The Nature of Genocide. This talk is a revaluation of the causes of genocide and human atrocity. The conventional wisdom is that we kill because we hate. I believe this assumption is flawed. This has impaired our ability to understand the causes of genocidal actions and ideology. Tim discusses his research which is based on the most current research on the moral universe of babies and the latest neuroscientific study of how the human brain functions. He concludes that the roots of genocide are found in our ability to love deeply, not in some dark monstrous corner of our nature.

Dr. Tim Horner, a professor in the Villanova Center for Liberal Education, teaches courses on genocide and conflict for the Center for Peace and Justice Studies as well as the Augustine and Culture Seminar. Even though his doctorate is in early church history and early Jewish/Christian relations, his research took a turn after the events of 9/11 to incorporate his deep interest in genocide. This puzzle of human behavior -- organized mass atrocity -- has become the focus of his teaching and cross-disciplinary research.
He has been to Rwanda several times, both for his research on the 1994 genocide and with Villanova students on a summer course he developed.

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